BLEACH: The New Avatar
by Animaddie
Summary: There's a new Avatar in town, but he's yet to master the elements, and certain obstacles keep him from reaching his potential. That all changes when he meets a certain pair of benders from the Rukongai, however. Street rats, nobles and evil teachers are all present in this story. Avatar AU.


Hey! So I've had this on my google docs for ages, and thought I might actually have a go at finishing it. I'm currently writing chapter two and three, and the writing quality of them is a little better than this one (I hope) I do apologise about that, but for some reason I can't fathom how to edit it, so here it is! I hope you enjoy it/the idea if nothing else! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. (Well . . .)

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><p>Our story opens in a classroom scene. In the far end of the room is a rectangular piece of rocky earth, raised about a foot above the floor, and spans across the width of the room and covers a thirds worth of the rooms floor. Surrounding this rock is a moat of water, about two feet wide and two feet deep. There are torches of fire at each corner of the rectangle and a hatch at the top of the room which opens when the rectangle is occupied. It is known as the 'bending square'. When two, or teams of opponents are fighting, the winner is the one to knock the other out of the square (which is onto the floor behind the water). Currently, one small black-haired girl is practicing her bending in the middle, the instructor shouting orders at her:<p>

"Okay and bring your arms up! Down, slowly, through and pu-NO THAT'S FIRE-BENDING!"

The teacher exploded. A tick formed in Rukia's forehead as she stopped her bending, arms still pushing down. The man stomped up to her, jabbing his finger in her face.

"Breath-control like that is FIRE technique, NOT water, for Kami's sake! When will you learn, you little Rukongai brat?!" He yelled, spit flying from his mouth. Rukia only sighed and stood straight.

"My apologies Sensei" and she resumed the first position. The teacher, however, was having none of it.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT TRYING AGAIN, I'M SICK OF YOU GETTING IT WRONG, BACK OF THE CLASS, _NOW_!"

He threw his finger out, pointing to the wall of students behind her, eyes bulging. She nodded slightly, turned and walked back gracefully, never turning her head back.

"STUPID RUKONGAI SHITE! RIGHT, NEXT! HOPE YOU'RE A RIGHT SIGHT BETTER THAN THAT!" She heard the teacher scream behind her. Barely looking at the student's in front of her, she held her head tall and walked over to the pink-and-spiky haired boy-going-man at the very back. As she reached him, he motioned down to her, leaning forwards slightly.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his tattoo-enhanced eyebrows knitting together.

Not looking up at him, she turned to face the class, she stood next to her friend, but not once did she move her head to meet his eyes.

"I'm fine, Renji"

But he could hear the waver in her voice

"That was bang out of order, he shoul-"

He felt a small hand touch his arm gently, but she was still looking at the show in front of them

"Its fine, Renji, people like him don't understand the world we've come from"

"That's a bullshi-"

"Renji . . ." Her eyes met his, he could see the despair they held inside - it almost twinkled in the beautiful violet he'd always find himself lost in

"It doesn't matter" She finished, placing her hand back in her palm and facing the class again.

Renji had to force his mouth shut, how could Rukia have taken that so calmly? So easily? More to the point, why did she? She was the most graceful, gentle person he knew, yes, but underneath that held an extremely potent fire that could scorch through anything if it needed to, she could have torn that teacher limb from limb merely with words, yet she chose not to. And not only that, to his _and_ the teachers knowledge, Rukia was no longer a 'Rukongai brat'.

'_Damn teacher needs to be roasted on a spike'_ He thought darkly.

Midst-machinations of murder, Renji noticed the door to the dojo creep open ever so quietly, he realised the student must have been crouching, trying not to get caught, from the way the other students moved around them.

'_Fat lot of chance that'll work'_ he thought, and not a moment later the teacher turned, apparently noticing said creeper.

'_This should be fun'_ Renji grinned slightly – it was always nice to be the watcher, rather than the bearer, of hell.

His grin grew as the teachers eyes widened, obviously realising the student was trying to avoid getting caught.

'_Any second'_

"A-Avatar?!"

'_Here we go!-Wait_ . . ._**what**_?'

Flabbergasted, Renji froze as he watched the teacher walk over to the newcomer.

He stopped not far from where the students had converged into a circle, smiled and bowed at the student, and motioned to the class, his voice barely containing excitement.

"This, class, is our newest student . . . The _Avatar_!"

Renji's stomach practically flew from his gut as he unfroze and whipped his head down to Rukia, who had in turn, whipped her head up to him, her eyes massive. They both immediately stretched to get a better look at the boy in question. Rukia, however, practically blinded from all the towering students in front of her, grasped hold of Renji's arm and started tugging vigorously.

"Renji, Renji, gimme a lift!"

"What?! NO find your own way!"

"OI, RENJI"

"NO!"

"RENJI."

He nearly quivered at that tone, Rukia could be scary. Yet he decided to hold his ground

"NO."

"FINE!"

Renji stopped and looked down - Rukia didn't usually give in that easily - but he soon noticed she'd completely disappeared, quickly scouring the area, he tried to see her, wondering where the hell she could have disappeared to in virtually a second, until.

"OOOOOWWWW!"

All he could feel was clawing and digging up his back.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, FOOL!" he heard from above and behind him

"GET. OFF. MY. RUDDY. HEAD!" he yelled, scrabbling round his back trying to pull the short assailant off him.

"NO!"

"RUKIA"

"YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE, ROCK-BRAIN!" She roared, clanging him on his head with her fist and laughing.

"OI!"

He heard Rukia snigger above him as she settled over his shoulders. Face beetroot, he resigned to huffily crossing his arms.

"Stupid female with stupid-female-stupidness!" he muttered under his breath

"Best. Insult. Ever."

"SHUT UP!"

Rukia chuckled again, and watched overhead as all the student began to mill around this 'Ichigo'

"Oi, what's happening?" Renji asked from below, straining his eyes up in an attempt to see her.

"People are just going to meet him I think, all I can see is spiky orange hair now" She replied, he could feel her moving from side to side as she tried to get a proper glimpse of the newbie. Renji's eyebrow rose.

"He has orange hair?"

"Apparently"

"Weirdo."

Rukia looked down to the bright-red head in front of her stomach and rapped it with her knuckles

"OI! What was that for?!"

"Because _you_ can talk about strange hair colours."

Renji paused for a moment, before a red flushed his cheeks and he looked down again

"Shut-up"

"Exactly" Rukia grinned.

"Ooh! Looks like he's coming our way!"

"OMIGOD, Rukia, get off, get off, he might say hi!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow, until suddenly she found herself flung on the floor, looking up at a scowling Renji with his arms crossed, and a small-glare towards whomever was coming their way. Fuming, she tipped herself onto her feet, rubbing her bottom where it had hit the floor

'_That damn idiot!'_

She heard a shuffle behind her and a short

"Yo"

And looked at Renji, still scowling, who also replied

"Yo"

She'd had enough of 'cool' Renji. Standing up properly, she quick-as-lightning grasped his leg and pulled.

He went down like a ton of rocks.

She turned and faced the boy behind her, who had a face of pure surprise staring at the place Renji had just been, and then looked down at her, she grinned and held out her hand

"Rukia of Inuzuri, and you?"

The boy seemed somewhat confused at this proposition.

"Er, The Avatar." He replied, eyebrows knitted in confusion. Could this girl not hear?

Rukia in turn seemed to find his answer odd, one slender eyebrow arching. She thrust her hand again

"And I presume '_The Avatar_' has a name, does he not?"

His eyes flashed for a moment before looking down at her hand, he appeared to stare at it for a moment, and then back at her, his eyes wide with shock, before his eyes softened again and he held out his own

"Ichigo Kurosaki"

"I thought so!"

She grinned as they shook hands. She quickly let go and crouched down, tearing a scrabbling, profanity muttering, Renji up from the floor by his collar

"This is my friend Renji! He's also from Inuzuri" She thrust Renji forward into him and they awkwardly grasped hands, their faces but an inch from each others.

"er, Hi?"

" . . . Hi"

They both quickly dropped each other's hands and looked at Rukia awkwardly, who still, was grinning like a madman.

"So wha-

Rukia felt a shove on her shoulder as Renji must have been punched in the back

"Oi, Rukongai scum, get away from _the Avatar,_ there's no way he'd want to speak to the likes of you, stop freaking him out!"

"They're so scummy they can't even get their proper bending uniform! They get special treatment just because they're Rukongai-rats! Like _the Avatar_ would want to hang round with _them! _Dirty freeloaders!"

"Yeah, why don't you just piss off to the back of the class like you belong? You'll get _the Avatar_ all dirty with your dog-shit hands!"

The majority of the class chuckled and both Renji and Rukia froze, faces burning

"Haha, I get it, I get it! Like the _dog-shit_ town they came from, it's so scummy even the _dogs_ commit suicide there!"

The class roared as Renji and Rukia sank further into embarrassment, the goading had died down recently, but obviously people were keen to put them in their place before they got too chummy with 'the avatar'.

Rukia could feel Renji shaking beside her, willing himself not to punch the nearest person to him, she sighed gently, realising she was in no better state and grasped his sleeve with more force than she'd intended to

"C'mon Renji, let's just move" Renji remained still for a moment and then turned his head towards her, she was staring directly ahead her eyes focused on the far wall. He could tell she was also willing herself not to send them all flying too - she was holding her ground for his sake. He let out a harsh breath and the both turned, walking solemnly to the back of the class, neither noticing the orange haired boy calling out to them.

"Right class now we're going to have some exciting lessons with _the Avatar_, yes?" Grinned the teacher. Now Renji and Rukia had gone to the back, excited murmurs immediately travelled through the class, eager to learn something from _the Avatar_!

No one noticed how Ichigo's eyes saddened slightly, his expression turning somewhat downcast. Just like no-one had noticed his frustration when Rukia and Benji, was it? Left, how he had tried to reach for them to see if they were okay, or how murderous his expression had turned once they were out of sight.

No-one ever wanted to know _him _and the first person ever to simply ask his name - ask him personally - had been driven out by classroom bullies.

No-one knew he'd come to learn water bending, no-one even suspected that he was still learning, how, while he picked up the basics well and was a more than competent bender, he was no expert. He had never been in a real fight, where someone would genuinely try and knock him down – apart from his father, but he'd perfected those defences years ago. No-one seemed to want to fight him properly now, and he was fed up of it.

"Right, Benisaki, you can go first!" Grinned the teacher, gesturing towards 'Benisaki' and then looking at Ichigo

"Benisaki is one of my finest Earthbenders, I'm sure he'll pick up anything you ask of him!" the teacher gloated as Benisaki walked up to the bending-square. Ichigo waited as the boy walked up to him.

Ichigo noted the attire he was wearing, an ornate hair piece, silk Earth-bending uniform that barely looked worn, and an expression akin to a bulldog chewing a wasp stuck on his face

'_This should be interesting'_

Benisaki held out his hand

"Ruriko Benisaki, _Avatar, _I hope we become good acquaintances in the near future"

Ichigo took it and bowed rigidly

"Indeed"

'_Prick didn't even ask my name'_

They both stood at either side of the bending square and Ichigo took the first position in earth bending, solid square stance with both fists tucked by his hips, Benisaki stood with his feet slightly apart and kept both hands at his sides

'_What kind of stance is that?! I thought he was meant to be good?_'

"Right, three, two, one, BEGIN!"

Ichigo waited, but Benisaki didn't move

'_What's he waiting for?_'

Still Benisaki stood in his 'stance' and didn't move, Ichigo decided to act and gently thrust his first two fingers out from his curled fist, a small rock sailed straight for Benisaki and tapped him on the stomach.

Benisaki fell.

Ichigo stood, flabbergasted

"BRILLIANT AVATAR! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! TO TAKE DOWN BENISAKI LIKE THAT, ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS!" The teacher led the class into an enormous round of applause as Ichigo stood, still in his position, astounded by what had happened

'_You've got to be kidding me! They're not even attacking? What-what the fuck just happened?!'_

"Are you kidding me?!"

A strong voice cut through the applause as it died immediately, the crowd parted unwillingly as the small girl from before pushed her way through the crowd, her face almost as frustrated as Ichigo felt

"BACK OF TH-

"NO! You cannot, tell me that _he's_ the sodding avatar!"

She stomped through to the front of the crowd and stood directly in front of him, glaring directly into Ichigos eyes, who simply appeared shocked

"Rukia com-

"No Renji! This is absolutely ridiculous! Why haven't you got five of us against him?! He's meant to be able to _fight,_ not have to test his bloody opponent's nerve! This is NOT how you are meant to teach an _avatar_!"

"THAT'S IT IV'E HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" The teacher roared, stomping over to Rukia

"YOU'RE EXPELLED! RUKONGAI SHI-" Ichigo had thrust his hand in front of the teachers face

"No."

He didn't watch the teacher, he was staring directly into Rukia's eyes

"She's right. Let me fight _her_"

Rukia cocked an eyebrow at this, and the teacher went white

"Aahh-ha-hahah, nn-n-no a-a-avatar, t-that would b-b-be a v-v-very b-b-b-ad idea" He stuttered

"She can't even perform the basic moves of her own bending type" he added scathingly

"She _can_ bend though" Ichigo asked, his eyes still not leaving Rukia's as he asked the teacher

"Oh, I can bend" She answered, also staring directly into Ichigo's eyes.

"Then it's sorted" He finished and they both nodded, turning to walk to opposite ends of the square.

Renji watched on, his arms folded, an unreadable expression on his face.

The class had gone silent, only the teacher's belligerent pestering of trying to get Ichigo to 'not-fight-that-Rukongai-brat' could be heard through the classroom

"Please, avatar, she's an awful bender, truly ungifted, the worst I've ever see-"

"Ready, _Ichigo_?" Rukia asked, not paying attention to the teacher

Ichigo grinned

"Certainly, _Rukia_"

She grinned and widened her stance, sitting into her legs and pulling her fists to her hips

'_An Earth bender? I thought she didn't know the basics'_

Rukia grinned at him

"Renji, will you count us down?" She said, not looking anywhere but Ichigo

She heard an exasperated sigh and then

"Three . . .two . . . one . . . _fight_"

She grinned and thrust her leg forward, stomping her foot on the ground as she punched straight through the air.

Ichigo barely saw her move, but shifted into a defensive 'X' position with his arms, ready to stomp through the rock that was surely imminent to his face, closing his eyes he braced and felt the full force of her power shift through the air, ready to try and brace the rock, he yelled out and pushed through an enormous force of . . . water?

He barely even noticed he'd been sent flying twenty feet away, landing straight on his back. He sat up gingerly looking for the girl who had sent him soaring his eyes flew open as he found her

She'd moved an inch.

The move that had surprised, shocked, sent him soaring and winded him on his back twenty feet away, had been caused by that girl moving an _inch_.

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><p>Okay, that's it for this chapter, it's more of a set-up one, just to get characters and basics introduced, as I said, I'm currently writing 2 and 3, and have a few ideas for others, so if you enjoyed it, stay tuned!<p> 


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